Archive for March, 2015

Internet safety has come up as a major concern for parents. While internet offers so many advantages, there are many threats like identity thefts, credit card frauds, wrong influence through social networks etc. that kids are exposed to. On one hand, it is essential to introduce them to new technologies and the benefits they offer. On the other hand, it is equally important to keep them secure from the potential threats in the cyberspace.

Given here are some important tips that can help to keep your family safe in the virtual world:

Discuss with your family: Be open to discuss matters related to the use of technology and the consequences for its misuse. Develop a certain comfort level with your children so that they do not hesitate to come up to you in case if any guidance. This will help your family feel safe while individually exploring the internet, while knowing whom to turn to if they have any queries.

Discuss about websites and online services: Talk to your family members about the kinds of sites each of you likes to visit. Also, let them know if the websites they are browsing is appropriate for them.

Use internet together: This is the best way to teach internet safety to the kids. Browsing web pages together and addressing safety issues together will make your kids more capable of keeping themselves secure online.

Protect Passwords: Make sure your family is aware of the tips and tricks to create strong passwords. Let them know that they should not use the same password for multiple websites. They should also keep their passwords strictly confidential and not give it out to anyone, except parents. Also, tell them the importance of signing out everytime they access their online accounts, specifically on public computers.

Check age requirements: A number of websites require the users to be of certain age to be granted access. For instance, you must be 18 years or older to use some of the Google’s products. Always make sure that you read a website’s terms and conditions before letting your child use it.

Safeguard your computer: Install reliable anti-virus software and update it regularly to prevent yourself from online security threats. Discuss with your family about the information that you should or should not share over the internet. Also, make sure that they do not download any files or email attachments from unknown sources.

Following the above given guidelines can ensure a safe and secure online experience for your family.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) can be defined as a strategy to identify or monitor confidential data to ensure that it is not sent outside a corporate network. It involves real time tracking of data as it moves through the end users in an enterprise and prevents its unauthorized access by implementing strict privacy policies. The term may also be used to describe software solutions that enable the web administrator to control the data that can or cannot be transferred by the users.

With the increasing number of devices connected to the network, Data Loss Prevention has become extremely important for the organizations to maintain their stability and protect confidential information. The types of data that may be leaked include:

In-Use Protection: This is applicable when the confidential information needs to be used by certain applications. Access to such data depends upon the user’s ability to pass through different levels of control systems to authenticate his identity such as employee ID, job role and security policies. Additionally, such information is likely to be stored in an encrypted form to prevent the attempts to access snapshots, paging or any other temporary files.

In-Motion Protection: This is applicable when the sensitive data is being transferred through the network. Proper encoding methods are implemented to alleviate the risk of spying or hacking attack. The more confidential the information, the tougher the encryption will be.

At-Rest Protection: This is applicable when the data is saved on some kind of physical storage medium. It involves restricting access to the programs, monitor the attempts to use such information and use strong encryption to prevent threats to the physical media where the information is stored.

Requirements Of A Data Loss Prevention Software

Your DLP product should be capable of finding and protecting all information, regardless of its storage location.

It should also be able to track the usage of the data and prevent it from getting out of the organization’s internet network.

The system must also accurately detect any potential threats or breaches of network security.

Lastly, DLP software must be able to encrypt the sensitive information to prevent loss of data.

It is extremely important to have an effectively functioning Data Loss Prevention system to keep your business and data protected from potential security threats.

Setting up a wireless internet network has become much easier these days. All you need is a cable modem or DSL plugged in to a Wi-Fi router. However, most people are not aware of the necessary measures that must be taken to keep the network secure from unauthorized users. Configuring the router settings appropriately is essential to prevent the misuse of your wireless internet.

Given here are some tips that will help to keep your wireless internet secure:

Encode With Password: When you set up a Wi-Fi network, make sure you turn on encryption with a WPA2 password. Operating an unsecured network or selecting WEP encoding method is not advisable. With WPA2, your computer will ask you to set up a password that has to be entered by the users who want to access your network. You must create a passcode that is complex, lengthy, unique and contains a combination of alphabets, numbers and special characters. Weak passwords can be easily determined by the hackers to gain access to your network.

Change Pre-Set Passwords: Many routers come with a default password set by your administrator company. Cyber criminals know these passwords, so make sure that you change it to something that only you know. The tougher the password, the harder it would be to crack.

Disable SSID Broadcast: When someone searches for available Wi-Fi networks, your connection will pop up in the list if you have enabled SSID broadcast. Deactivating this setting will not let everyone know about your wireless network, unless you provide them the information.

Enable MAC Filtering: This is probably the easiest way to prevent intruders from accessing your network connection. Most routers have an option to restrict the right to use based on the MAC (Machine Access Code) address of any device. You can create a white list of MAC addresses that you want to allow to use your network.

Disable Remote Access: Most routers offer the feature of remotely accessing your wireless internet from anywhere outside of your home network. Even if you have set up a strong password, anyone can gain access to your Wi-Fi without the need of any log in credentials. Disabling remote access will make sure that you are secure from any unauthorized people remotely using your internet connection.

You must also keep your router’s firmware updated to keep your wireless internet secure. Some routers might have the ability to update software automatically. Alternatively, you can check your administrator’s website to see if a newer version is available.

Google has recently announced a major alteration in its search algorithms in order to yield better results for the mobile users. Starting from April 21 this year, mobile friendly websites will be given a higher ranking in Google’s search results. Keeping in line with the increasing use of mobile devices, these changes are expected to be certainly significant for businesses and entrepreneurs. In addition to this, Google is also focusing on making indexed apps feature more prominently in the search results. Hence, if you are signed in from a mobile device, you will see content relevant to the apps already installed on your device.

According to the statement quoted at Google Webmaster’s official blog, “In reference to the mobile searches, it is important that the users get the most appropriate and relevant results. It does not matter if the information is sought from the mobile websites or the apps. As more and more people are using the internet from these small screen devices, we had to bring changes in our search algorithms.”

The company also stated that they will not be making the changes immediately as they want to give enough time to the internet marketers and business owners to be prepared. During this time, they can make the necessary changes to their websites to rank higher in mobile searches.

Given here are some of the tips that can help you make your website mobile friendly and more responsive:

Optimize The Layout: Mobile users usually look for the contact information, business hours and directions to your office. Make sure you provide all these information at the top corner of your website, along with a link to Google Maps.

Limit The Use Of Images: Inserting too many or high definition images in your website increases its loading time on mobile devices. Therefore, try to limit images and if necessary, use smaller ones or compress them so that they load quickly.

Design For Touchscreen: Ensure that all the links and buttons are easy to be clicked. Also, the buttons that are to be used more frequently should be provided at the bottom right corner of the website.

Limit Content: Mobile users do not want to read a lengthy content to know about your company. Simplify the website content so that your key products and services can catch their attention immediately.

We at Centex Technologies provide complete SEO and Web Development/ Designing solutions. To create a mobile friendly version of your website, feel free to contact us at – (855) 375-9654.

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Author

Abdul Subhani

I am the President & CEO of
Centex Technologies Microsoft Small Business Specialist, Certified E-Commerce Consultant, Certified Ethical Hacker, Certified Fraud Examiner, Virtual Instructor and an IT Consultant/Speaker on IT Security, Networking, Small Business Architect, & SEO Internet Marketing.

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